Temporarily closed aquarium finds solution for lonely, ailing sunfish
When the crowds stopped coming after an aquarium in Japan closed Dec. 1 for renovation work, a sunfish swimming alone in a tank stopped eating, became unwell and began bumping into the side of the fish tank.
Staff at the Kaikyokan aquarium in Shimonoseki were at a loss as what to do until one person at a staff meeting suggested the sunfish might have been affected by the sudden absence of people.
“We were skeptical but decided to do anything we could,” Moe Miyazawa of the aquarium told the Associated Press.
So, the staff hung their uniforms and human-shaped cutouts with photos of smiling faces on the outside of the tank “to cheer on the fish,” Miyazawa said.
“I knew [the sunfish] was looking at us when we were placing them, but I never thought it would start eating the next day,” Miyazawa said.
In fact, that’s exactly what happened. The sunfish ate the next morning for the first time in about a week and has been steadily recovering.
Staff now make it a point to visit the tank more often and wave at the sunfish, which became one of the most popular attractions at the facility when he arrived in February 2024 from the southern coast of Kochi in the Pacific Ocean.
“The aquarium keepers say they hope many fans will return to see the sunfish when the aquarium reopens in the summer,” AP stated.
Photos courtesy of Kaikyokan aquarium.
This article originally appeared on For The Win: Temporarily closed aquarium finds solution for lonely, ailing sunfish
